Heidelberg Expects Orders to top Euro 800 Million at Drupa

Wednesday, May 19, 2004

Press release from the issuing company

May 17, 2004 -- Only one day before end of the Print Media Industry’s most important trade show, drupa, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG’s CEO, Bernhard Schreier, appeared very pleased with the progress made. “At this year’s drupa, we will record orders amounting to over Euro 800 mill., comfortably ahead of our expectations”, said Schreier. “This forms a strong base to reach an order intake of more than Euro 1 bill. in the first quarter of fiscal year 2004/2005”. The positive spirit in discussions during the trade show fuel his confidence in an improving industry outlook for the next months. After three weak years, he expects the Print Media Industry to rebound noticeably.
As world leader in its industry and largest single exhibitor, Heidelberg presented itself, on 7,800 square meters in two halls, to more than 370,000 international visitors. Out of these visitors, over 40,000 customers and interested persons witnessed 350 presentations in 5 Heidelberg solution demo centers and the Heidelberg-Forum. ”Our focused customer approach and over 50 innovations shown triggered our success at drupa 2004. The new Heidelberg appeared tangible to our visitors through the applications shown”, so Schreier. Heidelberg's concentration on business solutions along the entire sheetfed offset value chain, the company’s core business, from prepress to finishing to workflow issues, was welcomed by customers. Roughly 90 percent of the orders placed were for sheetfed offset and finishing products. As expected, most of the orders came from Europe, but also American and Asian customers invested well.